Bond

BOND is physical winery, yet more importantly, BOND is a philosophy of creating premium wines from a single variety (Cabernet Sauvignon) from ‘grand cru’ site specific Napa Valley vineyards. This story begins when founder Bill Harlan owned Merryvale Winery in St. Helena and Bob Levy was his winemaker. At the time Merryvale worked with around 60 vineyards in the valley; ultimately Bob recognized several vineyards that stood out from the rest based on quality of site. After Bill sold Merryvale, both he and Bob pursued a vision in which they would work together to create an estate built around select vineyards in Napa Valley and none of which would be under their ownership, but all would be farmed by their own vineyard team – rather than by the owners of each vineyard. They were able to keep several of these premium vineyards after Merryvale was sold.

Winemaker Cory Empting has been with BOND since 2000 soon after graduating from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo with a degree in viticulture. He grew up in St. Helena and as he says, “I did not come very far down the road” – referring to BOND’s location in nearby Oakville. His wine education and interest came early on – from friends in the valley with last names such as Wagner and Mondavi. Today five premium vineyards are under the BOND portfolio. These vineyards were hand selected and evaluated over a number of years before becoming part of their portfolio; not all five were present out the outset. These hillside vineyards are located in both the Vaca and Mayacamas mountain ranges.

BOND does not simply purchase grapes from each of these vineyards. Rather each vineyard involves a unique partnership between BOND and the owner. BOND then manages the vineyard with their own in-house vineyard management team. Usually, they will manage a vineyard for 5-7 years before the fruit is incorporated into their portfolio. Each of these small vineyard’s range in size from 7-11 acres. Attention to detail in both management during the growing season and when to harvest are paramount. Cory mentioned that in just one of these vineyards they picked 17 different times during one harvest – which remarkably equates to 17 different vinifications in the winery. And that is just for one of the five wines.

Bond-WineryBond-Estate
Melbury
Melbury is named after a historic district in London and is where the owners of this vineyard live for much of the year. The vineyard is located opposite to Pritchard Hill not far from Lake Hennessy. Along with Vecina, this was the first vineyard in the BOND portfolio. The vineyard is notable for being on the hillside, yet its soils are generally a compressed clay.

Quella
Quella is a German word for aquifers or spring water; this perfectly ties into this specific vineyard location as geographically it sits in an area known as Spring Valley not far from Joseph Phelps Winery. The vineyard is geologically intriguing; it sits on an uplifted riverbed; nearby soils have eroded down over millions of years leaving plenty of alluvial cobble as well as white volcanic ash along with reddish volcanic soils underneath. This is the newest entry into the BOND portfolio with a first vintage dating back to 2006.


St. Eden
The St. Eden property is located on a small knoll at the edge of an alluvial fan that comes down the west side of Pritchard Hill extending to the valley floor in Oakville. It borders Rudd Estate, Gargiulo Vineyards and is within a very short distance of Screaming Eagle. Cory calls this wine the fulcrum of the portfolio; stylistically perched in the middle of their wines – not as elegant as perhaps the Melbury and not as robust as their bigger wines, the Vecina and Pluribus.

Vecina
Vecina which means ‘neighbor’ in Spanish is appropriately named; it is sourced from one of the coveted hillside blocks in the Vine Hill Ranch Vineyard, located slightly southeast of the BOND property on the southern edge of the Oakville appellation. This 11 acre vineyard sits on the edge of the Mayacamas mountains and is east facing. The soils here are generally alluvial. The first BOND Vecina was from the 1999 vintage.

Pluribus
Pluribus means ‘many’ in Latin and references all the multiple components and facets that go into making wine. This vineyard is east facing with volcanic well eroded soils located at an elevation of about 1,100 feet in the Spring Mountain District.

The look and feel of BOND’s packaging is built around themes of money. BOND is Bill’s mother’s maiden name; the wines are labeled with a historical feel to them which resemble old bank or bond notes.

Matriarch is a second wine; it is created from components used for BOND wines that are not used in the final blends. Total production of each wine is between 450 and 600 cases a year and about 1,200 cases of the Matriarch.